Twenty nine excited Year 6 pupils all piled into the coach having had to get out of bed incredibly early! Though we had a long journey ahead of us we knew we had an exciting week to look forward to with lots of interesting places to visit.

Some of these were Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacre Cour Basilica, the Pompidou Centre and a Seine river boat trip. We also went to the Musee du L'Orangerie, Fountainbleau, a market and a French art workshop in Barbizon. However the best part was going up the Eiffel Tower, or 'Tour Eiffel' in French! When we we got up the tower I felt as though I was flying. I was stunned by the views as you could see for miles around.

In Notre Dame the massive pillars took my breath away and even though it was a large tourist attraction it remains beautiful and seemingly quiet and calm. 

Whilst sailing down the Seine we were able to see lots of important places with plenty of photo opportunities.

The Pompidou centre was amazing too. We had a guided tour to see some lovely paintings. It makes you realise just how skilled and hard working artists are. We were able to go up the escalator it was a scary but brilliant time going up and down!

When we returned on Friday we all felt as if we had come away from a wonderful experience. I for one felt that it had been magical and definitely a trip to remember!

Grace 6W

Monday

On May 11th, Year 6 set our at 7 am on an eleven hour journey to Paris. We travelled to Dover first and then at 10:45 we got on the ferry for France. It was a very rough and unpleasant crossing and most of us were ill. When we got off the ferry we prepared ourselves for the long coach trip to the hotel, La Bois du Lys. When we got there, we had supper, which was very yummy, and finally we found out who was in our dorm. When I found out that I was with Zoe and Jessamy, I was so excited that I was with some of my best friends.

Maddy, 6W

Tuesday

After a breakfast of cornflakes with hot chocolate milk (an interesting combination), croissants and bread, we headed off into Paris for a tour along the Seine. We boarded the boat and set off in search of famous buildings. There was a sort of telephone you held to your ear and listened to, which explained and described the city.

We passed Notre Dame, which was amazingly designed, the Tuileries Gardens: beautiful flowers and plants covered the landscape and many more fascinating buildings. We climbed what seemed like miles and miles of steps and visited Sacre Coeur for lunch and a quick look round. We did some work sheets and discussed the magnificent architecture of the building, then, guess what? Back down the steps again and back to the bus!

Next it was the Eiffel Tower. We arrived at the waiting line and skipped all the queues. We waited for the elevator, which a man dressed as a sailor appeared to be driving with his back to us, steering a big wheel; but as he came closer we realized it was a model. We reached the second tier and peeped over the barrier not daring to move any further forward. We walked round, taking great photos and finding all the different buildings amongst the busy, crowded city. It was an enjoyable day, and one to remember.

Hannah, 6W

Wednesday

Today was Millie’s birthday. It was also the day when we were going to the Orangerie in Paris (which was one of my favourite parts of the day). First, though, we went to the Pompidou Centre, which is an art museum – it looked amazing.

A guide showed us round and we started with some paintings that were quite different. The difference to more traditional paintings was the colours. They were different because a tree for instance is usually brown and green but on the artist’s paintings it was a lots of different colours. Then the guide showed us to another room where there was another painting, which was quite scary. It was of a lady who was smoking but she looked horrible because she was white, green and blue, and she didn’t look very well. What the guide tried to show us was that the artist had thought that not all paintings have to be about beauty. Another painting we saw showed a story of dancing. It was just a canvas with blocks of colour. But in the feeling and the movement of the painting you could see people dancing in it.

When the guide had to leave us, Mr Berry took us round to look at a few more paintings and modern art. One of the things that interested us was some furniture. We talked about why it was here and why it was a piece of art. Later we split into groups to talk about other art works.

After lunch we went to the Orangerie and a lady talked about some more art, but first we learned about the history of the museum itself. I found this amazing, they even had models about the different stages the building had been through. After that we went to the most exciting bit, seeing the water lilies by Monet. There were eight huge canvasses in all. Our guide explained about how Monet made these amazing paintings and how he painted them. With little time left she showed us a few more paintings and then we headed for the coach.

We went to Notre Dame after the Orangerie and the sight was incredible. There were loads of chapels and the decoration was beautiful.

Natalia, 6W

Thursday

On Thursday we went to a lovely art workshop in Barbizon, not too far from the hotel. Barbizon is a beautiful village and we enjoyed looking around it. The workshop was held outside a church with benches all round. Miguel, an artist who lives in Barbizon, came to help us with our sketching. We sketched the church as well as we could. Then we painted our sketches with watercolour paints, only using red, blue ad yellow. Then we let our paintings dry, as we admired what everyone else had done. We all really enjoyed it and I’d love to do it again!

Ellie, 6W

After Barbizon, we went to visit the beautiful palace of Fontainebleau. Its interior design was influenced by Marie Antoinette, Napoleon and many other people who had stayed there over the years, including Henry IV. One of the rooms at Fontainbleau was built for Marie Antoinette as her bedroom. Sadly she did not get to use it as she was sent to her death. Many of the rooms at the palace were large and highly decorated. The main and oldest part of the palace is where the horse shoe staircase is. Napoleon said his goodbyes there before going into exile. The palace had two side buildings added on at a later date.

I really enjoyed my visit to Fontainebleau, although it was a shame that not all of the gardens were open.

Bethany, 6W

Friday

Our last day in France started in Fontainebleau market, buying a few souvenirs for our families, before the long coach journey up to Calais. Thankfully the crossing was a lot smoother this time! Overall the trip was great and I wish I could do it all over again.